Kaguya Kimimaro
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Contents |
Kaguya Kimimaro
Move list
Damage Chart
Strategy & Gameplan
OVERVIEW
Pros
- One of the best Shuriken Throws/Cancels in the game
- High Priority on BnB moves, fluid and fast as heck
- Offense Oriented but solid keepaway/defensive game
Cons
- CS1 not viable for early game play
- Relatively low defense
- Low Attack output
All Credits to hfolkner
Kimimaro looks at first to be a simplistic chakra denial character, but overhauls in NA1 and NA2 have changed him somewhat. His infinite 
now has to be square canceled to function as a true infinite. He does still retain his deadly priority and his shuriken cancel, but a Kimi player truly has to work to make Kimi work. He can be used in certain situations, but in some matchups he is pretty disadvantaged due to the fact that he doesn't do much damage, and he can't take much damage himself.
He sees little play now since all his moves seem to be read easily having such a simplistic set of moves (most chakra denial chars do.) What it takes to make a successful Kimi is using those bread and butter moves with a lot of gamesense and knowledge of enemy moves. I'm going to discuss two specific playstyles using Kimimaro: the orthodox chakra denial playstyle and my own personal defensive style.
BREAD AND BUTTER MOVES
- Kimimaro's bone bullets are his best offensive and defensive weapons. Their speed may be the same as compared to previous iterations of NA, but their arc of spread guarantees that most of the time at least one of them will hit your opponent. I'll be expounding more on this later. Another thing is that the bone bullets cancel very well, and a fast block after a shuriken cancel makes most of his moves very safe after x-dashes (which will usually be one of the responses of a player playing against KImi.)
- very useful offensive weapon, and you will see a lot of Kimi players using this very often. You can use this move any manner of ways:
• If the opponent kawarimis and tries to follow up, in the other direction
• If you want to keepaway, continue pressing to create some distance then shuriken and buffer that block to prevent x-dash retaliation. This is risky as it is open to getting hit by seals.
• You can also mess up the shuriken cancel timing, either cancelling early or cancelling way later in the string.
At the very least these options makes the move exchange less predictable and opens you up to mixups, which you really need with a character with a simple moveset.
- One of the most deadly throws in the game. Fast, fluid, can be shuriken cancelled to make it safe in many occasions post knj, and a deceptive hitbox. I use this move differently than the orthodox playstyle, something I will be expounding on later.
() - Kimi's basic string is also his best for forcing a knj from the opponent. Square cancel it and you can link it to jutsu, ougi, what have you. It's fast but not as fast as his
ORTHODOX CHAKRA DENIAL/RUSHDOWN KIMIMARO
If you're just trying out Kimi, this is a good way to start. Use the strats with I described above and try to keep your opponent on your toes. Get a chakra advantage all throughout the game. Mix it up with his normal and air strings and you can at least eke out an advantage in terms of life. If he's busy defending or getting rushed by you, he's not attacking you, thus you have the life advantage.
The orthodox Kimi makes moves safe by shuriken cancelling well and not overextending. By being ultra aggressive at all times the pressure is on your opponent, not you.
hfolkner STYLE KIMIMARO
There's probably one thing that epitomizes the way I use Kimi, and that is move interruption. Aside from using the usual rushdown tactics to stop whatever the enemy is doing, I use . There's nothing I can say to emphasize it more; they harass and annoy extremely well. Bone bullets reach so well, you can do this even at mid or long range. This prevents everything the character might do: awakenings, strings, and annoying long range moves like TS Naruto's Fuuma. It's decent OTG and doing it instead of rushing shuts down counter based characters that anticipate and do a counter.
My Kimi revolves around anticipation. 
(even on block,) wall combos and blocked x-dashes are all susceptible to Kimi's ground throw. On safe x-dash, a throw clashes, and you both get hit. Jump shuriken? Just move to the other side of the character and throw. Throw kawarimied? Depending on the hit that the enemy knjed, the throw can be shuriken cancelled, making it safe, it could clash with the shuriken throw, retaliation could be blocked if your opponent is slow. The worst scenario is a fast x-dash, but if you know the timing, you can knj that before you get any type of lasting damage.
If properly done the life advantage you gain is massive. Unfortunately learning the specific timing takes a lot more practice, as well as timing the catch of the ground throw, usually towards x-dash pressure. Plus the style suffers under some matchups (see below) since every step is an uphill battle even though you basically outprioritize most enemies.
CS1 and CS2
CS1, like most speed up statuses, improves cancel time for those cancels. But unless you plan on going ougi with him, not really recommended.
CS2 is beastly but throw got slower. Auto deflect items ala Jirobou with
(by the way, cancelling at around ~7 hits is very effective but it knocks down automatically after you do it.) Here rush down is recommended as it is so much better than his usual self and you cancel at the right times.
Tips/Tricks & Extra Notes
INFINITE
square cancel near landing, repeat.
UNTECHABLE
~ Jutsu (cutscene works best, start input during/after hit)
WALL JUTSU 360 GLITCH
During CS1, when doing into wall, Kimi will go to the other side of the opponent and the finisher will not connect... unless you immediately input the cutscene jutsu and the jutsu will hit - even if Kimi is behind the character. I think this placement button locks too, but I'm not too sure on that one.
Specific Matchups
Against...
Chakra Denial - Kimimaro out prioritizes most Chakra Denial characters in terms of speed, and is at an advantage. He encounters some problems with Itachi whose can be timed to out prioritize Kimi's . Instead, use which is faster, or will at least clash. The lack of an infinite may be a problem but if your enemy kawarimis more than you do, the enemy's going to be the one denied of chakra. Stages affect the overall effectivity of this as well, as stages with more dummies = more opportunities to get chakra. Chakra sparse stages like the forest stage or the Manda stage will help.
Ranged Attacker - This matchup is character-dependent but is generally a disadvantage for Kimi:
• Kanks (PTS and TS) - Kimi at slight advantage; his can move him quickly underneath TS Kank's aerial (his can even neutralize some of the rocket things,) and as long as you prevent him from keeping you too far away you can engage at close range (careful not to get too much time in the air or you will be caught in Kanks aerial . Alternatively, you can bait that move and retaliate if you're confident with KnJ.)
• Sai - Kimi at disadvantage. Sai has a perfect mix of air and ground pressure; Kimi's is only slightly effective at best, and Sai has better damage output potential.
• PTS/TS Shino - Kimi at advantage; his shuts down Shino's bugs from getting to him too much. Aggressive play for Kimi favors him in this one.
• Gaara - Kimi at heavy disadvantage, especially the PTS version; PTS Gaara blockstuns taijutsu at a location slightly farther than comfortable for Kimi, and Gaara's damage output flattens Kimi if he goes head to head.
• TS Tenten - Slightly favored towards Kimi, as Kimi's interrupts Tenten well.
• TS Naruto with Fuuma Spam - if Kimi gets the initiative, he is favored to win this match, especially if Naruto only spams fuumas. Once he gets akai chakra mode, rushdown and proper interruption will shut Naruto down.
Rushdown - This matchup is also dependent on the damage output of the attacking character; characters with good damage output like Kakashi, used in a rushdown or bulldog style, will beat Kimi even if Kimi gets more hits in, because his damage output is inferior to Kakashi's. This will make this matchup an uphill battle. Trying to deny chakra then becomes a priority to make them more susceptible to more of Kimi's moves. Sakura and Ino have good moves that can in theory bypass , but a good Kimi player will time that move correctly. If done slightly earlier than Sakura's , Kimi will outprioritize even that and hit Sakura. As for Ino, the usual stick to the air strat works for her. Both girls, due to their superior damage output, are either equal to or slightly favored against Kimimaro. Characters with medium damage output favor Kimimaro more as you will be hitting them more than the other way around, and cumulative damage will most probably be in your favor.
Media
TUTORIAL VIDEOS
GAMEPLAY VIDEOS
Rockman (PTS TenTen) VS. Forte(Kimimaro)
